Arsenal silently hijacked Spurs’ Eberechi Eze transfer well before anyone knew. The move by Arsenal to pull the rug from under the feet of English Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur hours before the latter signed England international Eberechi Eze illustrates just how fierce – even ruthless – competition for the best talents in sports can be.

By Wednesday afternoon, all indications to observers were that Eze was headed to Spurs. However, The Independent reveals that Arsenal and Eze had long settled on the deal with the knowledge of the player’s current employer Crystal Palace. This is how The Independent went behind the scenes and details the mind-games:

It seemed the Gunners swooped past their North London rivals on Wednesday, but they made their move much earlier than that.

Just hours before Arsenal clinched a deal for Eberechi Eze, in an even crueller twist, Tottenham Hotspur finally put in the offer they felt would be acceptable to Crystal Palace. There had been a verbal agreement. Spurs just never got a proper answer. The reason was soon to become clear.

After days of difficult and painstaking negotiations between Daniel Levy and Steve Parish, Arsenal had appeared to steal in within a matter of mere hours. That has already seen this move cast as the mother of all transfer hijackings, especially with how it is another North London derby victory.

Except, it wasn’t really a hijacking at all. The Independent can now reveal that Arsenal had actually struck the principles of an agreement with Palace as early as the morning of August 10. They managed to keep it extraordinarily quiet as illustrated by how it was only after Wednesday evening’s sensations that multiple sources were willing to talk about it.

There was also the fact that, in those nine days, it didn’t look like Arsenal would follow through on that agreement. The word put out was that they wanted to sell before any other purchase, and that they preferred a left winger. Interest in Eze was repeatedly played down. There had been a lot of mixed messages, which fit with the whole summer as regards Arsenal and the Palace star.

Levy might certainly feel he’s had mixed messages now. The situation has led to some surprising sympathy for the Spurs chairman within the game – if also considerable schadenfreude. Their own negotiations for Eze had encountered repeated difficulties, as first reported by The Independent on Saturday night. The problems actually preceded that. Talks almost collapsed the Thursday before, and there were constant hold-ups over issues like add-ons and how much was being paid upfront. At the second when one issue was solved, another would arise.

One description over the last few days was that “the deal is both almost done and constantly at the point of collapse”. There is now a belief, especially within Spurs, that Palace were stalling. They were waiting for Arsenal to come back since competition would mean getting a better price.

It nevertheless looked so remote by Saturday that Eze himself had accepted Arsenal wasn’t going to happen. He even spoke to Parish to try and get a Spurs move sorted as Levy and the Palace chairman met on Monday morning. Tottenham looked like they had a clear run. Eze was genuinely excited about joining. It just wasn’t the one he really wanted. His dream was a move to Arsenal.

That suddenly looked like it would become a reality on Wednesday morning. Arsenal finally acted on that deal. That shift will be linked to Kai Havertz’s injury but there is actually hope the German’s absence won’t be that long, maybe less than three months. The Havertz news just accelerated everything. Arsenal wanted to make sure they didn’t miss out.

Parish and Arsenal executive vice-chairman Tim Lewis have a closer relationship than Parish and Levy, even if they often bicker. They WhatsApp a lot about regulations and other in-game issues. That helped by Wednesday’s acceleration of talks, especially since they had that Sunday 10 August agreement.

Another advantage was that Arsenal have more players they can offer that Palace need. It is possible a deal is next done for Jakub Kiwior, given how Oliver Glasner’s side need a centre-half on that side. Any such sale would still be a separate transfer.

Arsenal, for their part, still had to pay more than the initial agreement. That was to ensure it actually got done over Spurs. Whereas Arsenal’s previous structure had been for £50 million plus £10 million in add-ons, this is for £60 million and £7.5 million in add-ons – pretty much exactly Eze’s release clause, which expired for this window on Thursday. It is understood to have been superior to Spurs’ final offer.

Parish played that part masterfully. He got the best possible deal for his club, which was the best-case scenario if you’re forced to lose one of the club’s greatest legends. Eze did just deliver the first major trophy in the club’s history. Queens Park Rangers will also be celebrating, since they stand to receive 15 per cent of any deal. The Loftus Road hierarchy are now aiming to complete more business of their own, as they now have the most money they’ve had in years.

Eze has ultimately preferred Arsenal because they offer better opportunities for more trophies than the FA Cup – which he can prove influential to – but also because of that dream. The connection was there. Eze trained at Arsenal until he was 13. When he posted on Instagram on May 26 celebrating Palace’s FA Cup success, the fifth and last picture was a conspicuous image of Ian Wright.

It is still to be confirmed whether Eze will play in the Europa Conference League play-off against Fredrikstad on Thursday. There would obviously be romance in this club hero putting in the performance that properly delivers Palace to Europe, while also getting the opportunity for an emotional goodbye.

Except, amid all this talk of dreams, a realism must exist. This is a huge transfer, with a lot of money at stake.

Levy knows the cost of that now. He will face even greater questions having lost out on two big transfers late on this summer, after Morgan Gibbs-White. Fan protests at Spurs are likely to heat up again.

Arsenal have meanwhile signed a game-changer, in the way that some felt might be missing against Liverpool’s and Manchester City’s business. They’ve now pulled off the deal of the summer, given the dimensions and the rivalry. It could be hugely significant in the season.

• A Tell Media